Honoring All Our Journeys

Releasing & Letting Go

It is hard to let go of things, harder to let go of ideas, and even harder to let go of spiritual pretensions. Over time, as we familiarize ourselves with the many subtle twists and turns of letting go, we begin to be more savvy about how ego steps in to appropriate the entire process. In the millions of mini-decisions we make day by day and moment by moment, we are challenged each time either to let go or to re-solidify. ~~~ Judy Lief, “Letting Go”

This has been a huge topic in my life this year and I finally came to grips with the face that I needed to sit with this topic or go mad. Well, not really. More like be mad, frustrated, hurt, angry, disappointed, betrayed, etc. And I think I could write 100 blogs articles on this topic and never feel satisfied. But from now until my next birthday, March, I plan to look at this topic, again and again, to see what truth it holds for me.

The hardest thing to let go of this year was a long time friendship. . . no the long, long ones, but someone who I’ve known about 10 years and had immense faith in up until recently.

It’s so painful to feel betrayed and lose the fidelity of someone you consider to be family, to be a sister, and someone whom you’ve shared the intimate stories of your life.

I’ve long known that friendships did not last forever. I’ve lived in many places and have lost touch with people mostly because we were out of proximity. I few people I’ve even turned away from when my grief was too much and I could not take the energy expenditure it took to keep up with the friendship.

And what I have found with time is that letting go of idea, belief, quest, dream, person, etc. is that there are layers and layers to let go of. For example, when Mike died, I lost a brother. I lost my big brother. I lost the person whom I looked up to, especially on things of culture as he loved music, fashion, the arts, cooking, etc. I miss that influence in my life. Genetically, he was the person closest to me in the world. And for those of you who haven’t lost a sibling, that might not make sense and I hope you never have occasion to “get it”.

But just as this was true for Mike or Harris & Barb, or anyone else I have loved, it is true of our dreams, our fears, and our desires.

I ask you to join me, in the months ahead, to look at your life and see what no longer fits, what hurts, what you never use, what you can’t have because there is no space in your life, or who you need to let go, by choice or my circumstance.

Ask yourself: How does this benefit my life today? Does it bring me closer to my dreams? Does it connect to the deepest part of me? Can I trust this person? Do I trust them enough to bring up the subject and work through the problem? What about your health, your mental health, your body, etc? Are there things you need to let go of, release out into the cosmos? Do you need to say goodbye to stress, anxiety, mindless eating, anger, a stale job, or habits that do nothing or perhaps harm you? Ask yourself what are you willing to look at? Do you have support as you look at these things? Maybe even start of with that question first — if you are going to let go and allow healing to occur, who is there to support you in your process?

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